FoxFace Open Mouth RAPID BREATHING!

[AetherealKnight]

Hi everyone! My FoxFace fish have been breathing quite rapidly, and I can't seem to figure it out. It's been like this for several months since July. My Yellow Tang also seems to exhibit this. Breathing is pretty normal in the morning (like maybe 80 breaths per minute?) but after feeding it stays fast until next morning. I thought it was flukes, and did PraziPro treatment two times with 8 days between which seemed to had no effect on it. My fish don't really show any symptoms at all, besides rapid breathing. No flashing, itching, white spots. Any ideas? I am so lost on why he's breathing rapidly.

(Day time after feeding)

(Night time)

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi everyone! My FoxFace fish have been breathing quite rapidly, and I can't seem to figure it out. It's been like this for several months since July. My Yellow Tang also seems to exhibit this. Breathing is pretty normal in the morning (like maybe 80 breaths per minute?) but after feeding it stays fast until next morning. I thought it was flukes, and did PraziPro treatment two times with 8 days between which seemed to had no effect on it. My fish don't really show any symptoms at all, besides rapid breathing. No flashing, itching, white spots. Any ideas? I am so lost on why he's breathing rapidly.

(Day time after feeding)

(Night time)

Both videos are fuzzy to see skin but either velvet or flukes are generally the cause. Are inverts dying or doing well?
Additionally, loss of appetite or eating normal. If velvet, should not have gone this long without significant losses. If flukes, some symptoms are gills will be red or swollen with rapid breathing, fish acting lethargic or swimming near the water surface, hiding in the corner of tank or behind rocks, loss of appetite, shaking its head, flashing/darting, develop clamped fins, , or scratching against objects. They may also exhibit what looks like yawning from gill irritation develop, cloudy eyes and loss of color.

 

[AetherealKnight]

Both videos are fuzzy to see skin but either velvet or flukes are generally the cause. Are inverts dying or doing well?
Additionally, loss of appetite or eating normal. If velvet, should not have gone this long without significant losses. If flukes, some symptoms are gills will be red or swollen with rapid breathing, fish acting lethargic or swimming near the water surface, hiding in the corner of tank or behind rocks, loss of appetite, shaking its head, flashing/darting, develop clamped fins, , or scratching against objects. They may also exhibit what looks like yawning from gill irritation develop, cloudy eyes and loss of color.

Don't think it's velvet cause I haven't added anything since August and well, I'm not sure if fish could survive three months with velvet as you said. As for flukes, I can't see anything like, flashing, darting clamped fins, scratching, yawning, loss of color (except for him turning dark when stressed), cloudy eyes, or swimming near surface. He is hiding behind the rock work and corals, but he's the only fish doing that. Shaking head? Maybe...one time? He still has a voracious appetite and eats a lot of food.

I've attempted to treat my DT three times already with Prazipro, but the rapid breathing is still present, so I'm not sure if it's flukes or that treatment in the DT has failed three times.

Inverts are doing great, anemones are multiplying and growing, so nothing out of the ordinary there.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Don't think it's velvet cause I haven't added anything since August and well, I'm not sure if fish could survive three months with velvet as you said. As for flukes, I can't see anything like, flashing, clamped fins, scratching, yawning, cloudy eyes, or swimming near surface. He is hiding behind the rock work, but he's the only fish doing that. He still has a voracious appetite and eats a lot of food.

I've attempted to treat my DT three times already with Prazipro, but the rapid breathing is still present, so I'm not sure if it's flukes or that treatment in the DT has failed three times.

Inverts are doing great, anemones are multiplying and growing, so nothing out of the ordinary there.

I already ruled out velvet as fish would have been long dead. With Prazi, did you increase oxygen?
Other cause for breathing would be water but again, are inverts doing well or too dying?

 

[AetherealKnight]

I already ruled out velvet as fish would have been long dead. With Prazi, did you increase oxygen?
Other cause for breathing would be water but again, are inverts doing well or too dying?

I turned up the power head at the surface and ran an air bubble for the period during treatment. Inverts are doing well. They're not dead or dying. Got hermit crabs, astrea snails and strawberry conches scavenging around at night as usual rn and corals are doing good.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I turned up the power head at the surface and ran an air bubble for the period during treatment. Inverts are doing well. They're not dead or dying. Got hermit crabs, astrea snails and strawberry conches scavenging around at night as usual rn and corals are doing good.

Ran air bubble or air stone? Powerhead to surface will furnish agitation but air stone is best providing oxygen and water movement

 

[AetherealKnight]

Ran air bubble or air stone? Powerhead to surface will furnish agitation but air stone is best providing oxygen and water movement

It's an air stone (my bad for not specifying).. maybe I should permanently set an airstone running in my refugium? I do have a skimmer right now, which should help in producing oxygen (Skimmer was off during Prazi treatment).

 

[MnFish1]

I would consider that prazipro was degraded by bacteria in your tank - thus an ineffective dose. This is best done in a hospital tank. Though many people have luck doing it in the tank. Do you have any carbon - or other filtration that could have removed prazipro? Also some flukes need 3 treatments rather than only 2.

 

[AetherealKnight]

I would consider that prazipro was degraded by bacteria in your tank - thus an ineffective dose. This is best done in a hospital tank. Though many people have luck doing it in the tank. Do you have any carbon - or other filtration that could have removed prazipro? Also some flukes need 3 treatments rather than only 2.

I removed everything just basically leaving just my sock filters in the tank.

 

[vetteguy53081]

It's an air stone (my bad for not specifying).. maybe I should permanently set an airstone running in my refugium? I do have a skimmer right now, which should help in producing oxygen (Skimmer was off during Prazi treatment).

Skimmer will reduce waste but rarely will provide oxygen. The bubbles it has fractionates waste and not introduce O2

 

[Jay Hemdal]

It's an air stone (my bad for not specifying).. maybe I should permanently set an airstone running in my refugium? I do have a skimmer right now, which should help in producing oxygen (Skimmer was off during Prazi treatment).

The yellow tang is also breathing too fast. The Ctenochaetus tang is breathing pretty deeply, but not fast.
You should try a couple of strong air stones in the tank itself to see if the symptoms are alleviated.

 

[AetherealKnight]

Here's my fox face breathing in the morning, if it makes any difference.

I’ll try to increase oxygen and hopefully that works.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Here's my fox face breathing in the morning, if it makes any difference.

I’ll try to increase oxygen and hopefully that works.

If increased aeration’s doesn’t work, it rules out lack of oxygen as the cause, but will also help support the fish for other causes of rapid breathing.

 

[AetherealKnight]

If increased aeration’s doesn’t work, it rules out lack of oxygen as the cause, but will also help support the fish for other causes of rapid breathing.

For that particular video, was my FoxFace breathing normally or is it still elevated in the morning?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

For that particular video, was my FoxFace breathing normally or is it still elevated in the morning?

I think it is still fast. You should take a count from the videos and multiply it out to a minute. That way, you can more easily see subtle changes.

As an example, if you measure 15 gill beats in a ten second video, that works out to be 90 beats per minute. If the next day, you measure 20 beats in 20 seconds, that’s 60 per minute, so one third slower……